Lineup parsed from the opinion and verified against the PDF.
General permit for animal waste management systems—conditions added under settlement agreement—"rule" under Administrative Procedure Act
Where the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) added three conditions–requiring permittees to install monitoring wells in certain areas, analyze fields for high phosphorous levels and mitigate those at certain levels, and submit annual reports–to its general permit requirements for animal waste management systems (as part of a settlement agreement entered into with several nonprofit organizations in response to their complaint filed with the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Civil Rights), the conditions constituted a "rule" as defined by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in N.C.G.S. § 150B-2(8a) because they were applicable to any party seeking a general permit. Accordingly, because those conditions were not formally adopted through the rule-making process set forth in the APA–specifically, DEQ failed to invite public input regarding terms of the settlement agreement–the conditions could not be imposed upon applicants for general permits for animal waste management systems.
Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →